Special Schools Investigator Richard Condon said yesterday that his probers received more complaints and substantiated more cases against school workers in 2007 than in any year since the office was created in 1992....
He attributed the rise in complaints, in part, to his office's getting "a fair amount of publicity over the last several years - so there's an awareness."
...The surge included an 18 percent jump since 2006 in the number of verified cases and a 10 percent climb in total complaints.
Of the cases substantiated in 2007, 95 were sexual in nature, including that of a 22-year-old Bronx school aide accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
My concern is this statement:
In all, Condon last year called for 186 staff members to be put on the Department of Education's list of ineligible workers.
That's nice that they are not eligible to work for the Dept of Ed. But I want to know: how many are in jail? How many were turned over to the police for criminal investigation? If they didn't go to jail, where are they working now?
And will the NY Dept of Ed be held accountable if they go on to abuse other kids?
As a Catholic of the San Diego Diocese, which just settled for millions of dollars over the cover-up of abuse as much as abuse itself, I'm just a little sensitive over the prospect of public schools moving sexually abusive teachers outside of the area of their responsibility, but possibly into someone else's.
1 comment:
Absolutely typical, isn't it?
A few years ago when the clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted, the media descended upon the Catholic Church like the wrath of God; every day there was something in the news about it:
a single allegation was enough to remove a priest from his post
zero tolerance policies
diocesan bank accounts emptied on behalf of the victims
outcry for the RCC to change its policy on celibate clergy
and on and on...
I'm not saying it's bad that the abuse was discovered and that dioceses have taken every step they can to remove offenders and prevent the abuse in the future, but...
Where is the outrage now? Is there going to be a "teacher sexual abuse" scandal that rages for years? You're right, Jennifer: how come no one's thrown the book at the teachers who have committed sexual abuse with minors? Where are those teachers now? Will parents have the right to discover if their child's teacher has every been charged with sexual misconduct? Will school districts start "disappearing" teachers? Will the public, led by the corporate media, demand that only married teachers be permitted in classrooms or other situations where they would have contact with minors?
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